that fails to reach those goals could receive disciplinary actions. >> what about the part of the memo where officers will be disciplined if they don't meet those standards? >> i think it was a mistake. i have never advocated quotas. i have never disciplined an officer because they didn't hit a numeric number for a monthly arrest total. and even the perception that it exists bothers me. >> does not have numeric expectations. respects an officer's discretion. >> the chief says he was unaware of the march 1 memo until we brought it to his attention yesterday. he says it was written by two commanders who wanted to put out performance guidelines, only they went too far by including numbers and talking about discipline. >> they are embarrassed by the fact that this story has gone

viral. and that it is in a way, suffering the reputation of the department and in full support of rescinding the memo and clarifying any confusion inside the agency and outside the agency. >> in arlington county, peggy fox, 9news now. in less than one hour, the polls will close in the illinois republican primary. however, some counties are already running into problems that just might slow down the vote count. newly designed ballots are too big to fit into the computers that are supposed to read them. some polling places cut them down to size, but others plan to count the votes by hand, and the votes are expected to be close. the former pennsylvania senator is counting on conservatives from the southern part of the state. >> i hope romney takes illinois, i really do. he is the best qualified. >> i like santorum.

he seems like a more traditional and conservative candidate. >> it is going to be a challenge for santorum to win. his campaign did not file the correct paperwork in some districts and that e limb enates eliminates him from winning those districts. the gop front runner is holding a town hall meeting tomorrow afternoon at the american legion post. that's the hometown of the former maryland governor, bob ehrlich. romney is the only republican candidate scheduled to campaign in the free state. romney holds its primary two weeks from today. >> and the voters do not have to wait two weeks to make their choice. early voting for the state's primary begins on saturday and it lasts all the way through next thursday and any registered voter can take part. each county will have one early voting center. they will be open from 10:00

a.m. to 8:00 p.m. over in virginia, state lawmakers will reconvene tomorrow to begin talks on a new state budget. the special sessions necessary, because they failed to agree on a spending plan before it adjourned. one state senator says talks between republican budget writers have been congenial so far. tonight at 11:00, we have

something unprecedented. like so many deadly crashes, this one involved alcohol and speed. ann andrea mccarren got ahold of the video. she will tell us why we are showing it to you. >> a very serious newsroom discussion about whether to air this at all. no one has ever seen anything like it, but the young woman made a compelling case. she urged us to show it in hopes that others won't make the same mistake that she and her friends did. here's an excerpt from tonight's story. >> she was buckled in, video taping her night out with two friends. the police investigation revealed their car was traveling at 94 miles per hour in a 40-mile per hour zone. >> i wouldn't want anyone else, not even my worst enemy to walk into my shoes right now. >> the car barreled over a chain link fence and plowed into a brick embankment, the

impact so violent, it flung parts of the car into tree branches and utility wires. >> coming up tonight at 11:00, you'll see the crash as it happens in real time and hear portions of the desperate rescue efforts from a 21 minute video that continued to roll, derek, from inside that mangled car. >> it is gripping and disturbing, but it happened three months ago, so tell the folks why we are showing it now. >> we have gotten thousands of e-mails since we first started our reports, but one note was memorable, it was from that loan survivor and she wanted to speak to other teenagers about why they should not do what she and her friends did that terrible night. >> we will be watching. thank you, andrea, appreciate it. a half dozen montgomery county schoolteachers are suing their principal and the school board tonight. aallege bullying gross negligence and intelligencal infliction of emotional distress.

>> i'm bruce leshan in rockville. usually it is kids accusing other kids of bullying them, but in this case, it's six teachers who are accusing their principal of bullying them and they say the school board has ignored their complaints so they have filed suit here at circuit court. the lawsuit alleges calls male teachers doll, honey, sweety, and babe. he touched, slapped, pinched, at least one of those teachers in a sexual suggestive way. >> i got to the point where i cried all the way to work in my car and i cried all the way home. >> there have been at least two investigations of this principal and a school spokesman is just out with this statement saying, it is unfortunate that these teachers are using the media to make accusations that have thus far proven to be overwelmingly false and erroneous.

in rockville, bruce leshan, 9news now. >> states cannot be sued for denying employees time off to recover from illness under the family medical leave act. that's ruling today from the spar. this all stems from a case in maryland. daniel coleman tried to sue the maryland state court of appeals for damaging for firing him after he asked for sick leave. he was wrongfully fired after his request was turned down. but maryland argued states are protected by the constitution. employers probably saw a lot of sick calls today because of all this great weather we've had to endure. you couldn't ask for a better way to start the spring. it's like summer out there. >> this has been a nice stretch of weather. we had some thunderstorms south and west of town. we'll show you live doppler. most of those are running through harrisburg and a severe thunderstorm warning for rockingham county because of hail. around town, we are in good

shape. 66 in gaithersburg, but still 73 in fredericksburg. so for tonight, i'll keep the chance of an isolated thunderstorm in, primarily west of town. otherwise, partly to mostly cloudy and mild. fog develops late. lows in the 50s. winds easterly. we'll come back. we will talk about an increasing chance of thunderstorms and talk about increasing temperatures, if you can believe it. >> coming up, payton gets paid. the nfl top free agent inks a deal. but first, flags. the museum of confederacy gets ready to open doors, but some are upset what will not be flying on the front doorstep. we'll explain coming up.

now this is an interesting one. there is some disagreement over a new museum about to open up. it is the museum of the confederacy. it opens indication week and outside, it's going to fly the flag of every southern state. it would also fly the flag of the united states. but it will not be flying the confederate flag. now a group called virginia flaggers is not so happy about that. but, the museum's executive director says the flags that will fly outside will be part of a permanent exhibit demonstrating the reunification. >> a confederate flag does not belong in that because the confederacy neither conceded nor did the confederacy --

>> that's why i represent the veterans and soldier who's gave their blood, gave everything for us. >> now the confederate flag has not been omitted from the museum. 22 confederate flags will be on display inside. we all know the confederate flag is controversial, but this is a con ned rat museum. shouldn't the flag be flying out front or is the symbolism of this flag so hurtful that it is better off behind closed doors? mailbag@wusa9.com. i want to hear from you on this. spring starting off, but it feels like summer and topper says it's only going to get warmer. what else did topper say? but first -- >> the national cherry blossoms are out in all their glory and that's not the only factor helping local businesses. i'm jessica doyle at the title basin and i'll have that story coming up.

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it is official. peyton manning is now a denver bronco. the team introduced its new superstar quarterback this afternoon and manning's deal is pretty fat. $96million over five years. $18million of which is guaranteed for next season. the four-time nfl mvp will get to keep his jersey number. they had retired that number 50 years ago to honor a guy named

frank. the franchise's first quarterback. but he's a nice guy. he gave the team permission to let manning wear his old number. the cherry blossom festival is officially underway. it kicked off this morning with the cherry blossoms in peek bloom. the event dubbed the nation's greatest springtime. the festivities get underway this sunday with an opening ceremony. with the tourists flocking to washington for this festival, local businesses are cashing in. and as jessica doyle tells us, there are several factors making this year much busier than last. >> from the hotel room to the tours to the restaurants. the cherry blossom bucks are rolling in. at the ritz carlton in georgetown. >> our cherry blossom bookings are good. >> the early blooms sparked a new interest at the title basin. >> e

>> we have been getting a lot of inquiries. >> one special for $900 a night will get you -- >> it's the upgraded suite with cherry infused cocktails and cherry dishes. also that includes a bike tour. >> hotel booking is up 30% according to downtown d.c. and merchandise is selling really well, running about four times better than last year. a new public art installation of 25 sculptures won't hurt either. its debut coinciding with the opening of the national cherry blossom festival tuesday. >> we have everything from paintings, performances, to musical pieces as well as short waves, radio transmitters. >> artist behind cherry blossom cloud thinks visitors will enjoy playing his work of art.

>> open structure with a wooden drums and two xylophones. >> with the festival expanded from three weeks to five weeks, d.c. leaders hope revenue will rise 30% to hit $200 million. at the title basin, i'm jessica doyle, 9news now. >> festival organizers pulled out all the stops this year. they have more than 100 cherry picks restaurants participating throughout the region. they have specials. that's up from 83 restaurants last year. cherry and i are excited about the cherry infused cocktails. >> and it runs through this sunday. some of them are premiers and most of them are free. >> peek bloom now. how long before no bloom? >> as long as there's no wind, they can last, they can stay on the tree 7 to 14 days. so, we'll see. we don't need winds or big

thunderstorms. let's have a live look outside. sun about to go down. it's almost 7:19. goes down at 7:20 today. and it's to be about to go down. you're looking west and further to the west and south, that's where all the storms are. that's brought to you by michael and son. winds easterly. pressure steady over the past couple of hours, 30.20 inches of mercury and dew point has been hovering around 59 or 60. means it's very mild. live doppler 9,000. they have been getting hammered around harrisonburg. it's expired. but these storms are moving away from us. in fact, they will miss fredericksburg. that said, i'll keep a chance of an isolated storm in and that's about it. 70 still in rockville. 67 in bethesda. 69 in great falls. 70 in springfield and fort

belvoir. so, here's the deal. mild and then even warmer. early thunderstorm possible tonight. primarily west and south. some fog possible tomorrow morning. primarily by the water and warmer on thursday. a thunderstorm possible. even warmer on friday and a better chance of a thunderstorm. so here's the future cast. really tomorrow, the atmosphere is not unstable. so what we're seeing tomorrow are just a few showers here and there. nothing heavy. we'll put this into motion. maybe a shower, fairfax, up toward frederick and maybe leesburg, but nothing really organized and certainly nothing heavy. by 9:30 in the morning, a lot of clouds. some showers back to the west, not a big deal. breaks in the clouds and around 3:30, more showers around the immediate metro area and a couple sprinkles here and there. that's all light activity. so for tonight, partly to mostly cloudy, mild, maybe an

early storm. otherwise some fog late, lows in the 50s. winds easterly. by morning, mostly cloudy to start. some fog, maybe a shower. again, not a thunderstorm. temperatures in the 50s and 60s and then by afternoon, partly sunny and warm a. shower is possible. high temperatures between 70 and 75. if you have a tee time, i would not change that tomorrow. we'll break it down. 50s to start with some fog possible. maybe a sprinkle or shower at noon. 60s. 70 to 75. maybe a shower or sprinkle by evening. but not a bad day in terms of temperatures. next seven days, they just get better. we go back in the mid 70s on thursday, but increase our chance of a thunderstorm. 80 on friday. a pretty good chance of showers and storms off and on all day saturday. could be in the morning, could be in the afternoon. mid 70s, 70 on sunday. maybe a storm, and cooler. back in the 60s next monday and tuesday. >> a warm, rainy weekend

coming our way. >> showery. it's the same thing. we'll be back. we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mail bag. the address, mailbag@wusa9.com. 9news now will be right back.

in the mail bag tonight, distracted pedestrians. yesterday, i said we don't need any new laws banning walking and texting. how about common sense? john from lorton, virginia, is on my side. unless there's a cop on every street corner enforcing d.c.'s latest round of nonsense is impact impact call at best, if you aren't page attention to iron flying at you at 40 miles an hour, shame on you. well you know what? that's exactly what i said, mark from falls church begs to disagree. these irresponsible people who are not taught to look both ways before they cross the street are a danger. we hear of laws to protect them from the distracted driver. i say share the joy and pass the fines on where they belong. and mary did not like my final

remark suggests that if you are looking at your phone and walk into a bus, it's your own fault. derek, what were you thinking? how about the driver of that bus? he or she just injured or killed a person, what mental anguish will that person suffer? you know, mary, i feel you, but isn't it already illegal to step in front of a moving vehicle with the right of way is another law really going to fix this problem? and then, there was this on the proposal up in springfield, massachusetts in schools to pass out free condoms to 12- year-olds. deb in arlington says, are you nuts? what is that showing our children? 12 years old is still a child with no concept of how to really handle sexual involvement. i would be raising cane if my children were at that school. that is over stepping on a legal and a moral front. but, jack in rockville says we have to deal with the facts as they are on the ground. the main and obvious concern is

std's and unwanted pregnancy. if condoms help a few, it's worth the risk. if we can say we are setting a bad example, then lead by example. turn off two and a half men and put in father knows best. thanks so much for such a lively mail bag. our address remains, mailbag@wusa9.com. that is our report. i'll be back at 11:00. wusa9.com is always on. bye bye. i style everyone.

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now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment newsmagazine in the world. backstage with the stars after "dancing with the stars'" sexy debut. >> the early front-runner. the big surprises. and the latin heartthrob that stole the show. his past working with j. lo. and the rumors that he broke up her marriage. kirk cameron's new controversy. what he's saying about homosexuality. >> homosexuals should not be mistreated. plus, hollywood takes a stand against bullying. should kids be allowed to see this disturbing, new documentary? "mad men." new season secrets straight from the stars. is this katy perry's new boyfriend? >> plus, katy in army fatigues an